The Energon Pub

[Tsutsukakushi]

It gets annoying real fast, When you've got your heart set on buying a particular 3rd party toy. But now have to wait a few months, A year or years later. All so something newer can get pushed up ahead of schedule.

Problems arise, Like cancellations when a planned toy gets pushed back in release.

[NOS]

I can certainly relate to your frustration there. At the same time though I can understand why things have been getting pushed back lately. 3rds are competing with each other. The company that puts out a particular coveted figure or set of figures first are likely to get the bulk of the sales since when other 3rds get around to putting out similar figures the nitch is already filled by a previous 3rd. The likelihood that consumers will drop boo koo bucks on figures when they've already settled for something from other 3rds drops quite a bit.

It does suck, but life is full of disappointments. Take comfort in knowing that it's -likely- to happen and gets closer and closer to being with each update or confirmation. Think the best we can hope for when it comes to 3rds is good communication practices. As long as we have updates on things I can wait.

[guarayakha]

Personally, I have no problems with it, mainly because:
1) Gets to save up some more $$$ for random smaller releases;
2) Another 3p comes up with a variation of said product that better suit my preference.

Though it's getting kinda annoying looking at my 1-armed Feral Rex when they keep teasing with pictures of the completed king

Also, if this is about Carnifex/Overlord, do keep in mind that MMC have never really announce any plans for him yet, apart from that render from the designer. Worse case, it might even be just a piece of concept made to test the market to see if there's enough interest for them to consider the project.

So it's probably best to not dwell on it too much. I mean, we did went 2 full years and FeralRex is still missing his right arm

[rpetras]

I see where you are coming from, but I try not to sweat the small $#!+, and the release dates for 3P transformers is decidedly small $#!+.

I look at it this way: It just gives me more time to enjoy the stuff I currently have on display.

[Rated X]

While I agree it is annoying, I do understand there are more aspects to running a private business than speed. Its not like theyre selling hamburgers or doing oil changes on cars. Theres quality control issues. Theres last minute decisions made to make their product more competitive with rivals. And of course, theres the most important factor...whats best for business. I admit the wait for talon is overkill. Some people are bothered by Feral Rex having only one arm. At least their Feral Rex has an arm. Here in the US Feral Rexes everywhere are double amputees. But im getting my $74.99 early bird special on talon. That's stone cold.

[Tsutsukakushi]

I'm aware of the QC issues that the Feral-cons test shots had, That caused delays. Don't think this is the only reason for delays.

Heavily speculating that MMC further Pushed down-delayed Talon,Tigris and Felissaber. Due to MMC Pushing up the release dates of those Arcee Fembots. MMC is probably trying to get their Fembots to the market before HasTak's 30th fembots. Wasn't that Black Arcee being sold at that recent event overseas.

Remember TW did the same exact thing with their Trottlebot combiner. Where some team members were delayed to get other products released ahead of schedule.

[Ginrai Minor]

Overlord will arrive someday. Someone will undertake this responsibility in time! Also since mmc seemes to be in IDW mode.......can we get a deranged zealot Starsaber!

[NOS]

I'm aware of the QC issues that the Feral-cons test shots had, That caused delays. Don't think this is the only reason for delays.

Heavily speculating that MMC further Pushed down-delayed Talon,Tigris and Felissaber. Due to MMC Pushing up the release dates of those Arcee Fembots. MMC is probably trying to get their Fembots to the market before HasTak's 30th fembots. Wasn't that Black Arcee being sold at that recent event overseas.

Remember TW did the same exact thing with their Trottlebot combiner. Where some team members were delayed to get other products released ahead of schedule.

The points you just made are what I already stated... competition. Though I didn't include Has/Tak as part of the equation in my post it can be implied that pushing things back or products being delayed in order to pull a bigger piece of the pie before anyway else is still valid.

Consider this... MMC already invested time, effort, and funds into producing their Not-Arcee figure, yes? Now with the reveal of Has/Tak's Arcee would it not stand to reason that all the time, effort, and funds poured into building this Not-Arcee is going to rake in much less considering the cheaper, more 'official' option? The smartest business move then would be to push up their Not-Arcee in order to compensate for the sales they may have already lost due to this official Arcee. Additionally, considering Has/Tak has no official Predaking revealed or even hinted at to being in the works would it not stand to reason that it does not need to be the most immediate focus on their plate?

Another thing to consider is how much of an impact -not- pushing up certain projects could have on a company like MMC. This can even be applied to ToyWorld. Look at their Not-Headmasters. FP is obviously getting a pretty big piece of the pie there... what of how much time, effort, and funds went into ToyWorld's Not-Headmaster designs? In fact, the move to switch gears toward that end could very well be why there were QC issues with their Not-Skullcruncher.

If you take business sense into account then it's obvious that some projects should be pushed up while others should be pushed down for the better of the company.

[Agamemnon]

The flawed premise of this thread would also appear to assume that there are not multiple teams working on multiple projects; that for some reason projects cannot proceed concurrently. Additionally, as has been stated, Carnifex was only teased. Given MMC's general development schedule, and their almost anal attention to QC (thank you for that, MMC!!) it isn't surprising that we've not seen Carnifex prototypes/renders yet. (How long was Hexatron in the works? And he was well worth it, in my opinion!)

I can understand the personal frustration. However, all the counter arguments stated here are very valid, as far as I read. Is it really worth the effort to have a thread like this, where it really only results in venting? I'd rather enjoy what is being released and look forward to an eventual release of an Overlord homage. I find it a better use of emotional capital, especially since such whining exercises are all but pointless, outside of making one feel better, and hoping that others feel the same way. (And yes, I realize the irony of placing such statements as mine in such a thread as this. I normally avoid these threads. But the frequency of them are getting about as annoying as the concepts in the threads themselves.)

I'd rather enjoy what is being released rather than lament what is not. But, that's just me personally...

[Rated X]

On a side note, talon dropped in my POL today. So there is hope at the other end of the rainbow. Waiting on tigris and vintage mania king before I shil. Better late than never.